Council of Ancients

The Council of Ancients was the upper house of the French Directory from 2 November 1795 to 10 November 1799, consisting of 250 deputies of at least 40 years of age. A third of the deputies would be replaced annually, and the council also selected five directors from a list of nominees passed up to them by the lower house, the Council of Five Hundred. The council was also given the responsibility of approving laws proposed by the Council of Five Hundred, which would have to wait a year to reintroduce a law if the Council of Ancients rejected it. In 1799, it was replaced by the Conservative Senate of Napoleon's invention.